Kingsford Smith is nestled along the eastern beaches and Botany Bay south of Sydney.

Currently held by the retiring Labor member, former Midnight oil frontman Peter Garret, the seat has been considered safe Labor since the division was declared in 1949, but is now regarded as marginal.

The Liberal candidate Michael Feneley won an 8.1 per cent two party preferred swing at the last election and is returning to contest this diverse electorate again.

Soaring property prices have created a wealth belt along the ocean fringe which sits incongruously alongside large public housing estates in South Coogee and Maroubra.

Institutions like Long Bay Jail, Mascot Airport and Port Botany and the attendant industrial areas provide plenty of employment in the area which matches the national average for unemployment statistics.

The preponderance of apartments and the beach lifestyle makes the electorate attractive to 20-to-35 year olds with the demographic 8 per cent higher than the national average.

67.4 per cent of the population had at least one parent born overseas with a diverse mix of ancestry led by England, China, Ireland and Greece.

Contesting the 2013 election in Kingsford Smith are Jacquie Shiha from the Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group), Danielle Somerfield for Rise Up Australia Party, Matt Thistlethwaite for Labor, Diane Olga Happ for Palmer United Party, Michael Feneley for the Liberal Party, Geordie Lucas of the Future Party, and James Macdonald for The Greens.